Better Options Than Lunchmeat

Posted On November 12, 2023

Have you ever felt sick of buying lunch meat and thought it was kind of gross? I know I have. My family used to have sliced ham from Aldi for sandwiches almost every day. It was easy and it’s great when you need a quick simple lunch on the table. Sadly, many lunchmeats have nitrates and nitrites so despite how easy they are, they aren’t very natural. I would try to buy the nitrite-free lunchmeat at Martin’s but it was expensive and just didn’t seem to last for more than 3 days in our house. Not to mention, we often got sick of eating it and with the cost of lunchmeat going up to 5 dollars a pound in some stores (because of inflation) I started to wonder is buying lunchmeat even worth it anymore?

I thought that there had to be some easy and affordable lunchmeat alternatives out there.

This post and the following next posts will be a series for Better Options Than Lunchmeat! They are simple, natural, affordable, and delicious. I Hope they can help you if you are stuck in a lunch rut like I was!

Better Options Than Lunchmeat

1. Zesty Oven Roasted Chicken Breast.

A big alternative my family uses instead of lunchmeat is chicken breast! We buy it in bulk at Sam’s club. To this day, I’ve found that Sam’s Club has the best price on Chicken Breast. It is often 18 dollars for 6 pounds. Most other stores run you at least 22 dollars for this amount! Chicken Breast is also much more filling than lunchmeat, as it has more protein. It is a leaner choice as well.

I’ve come up with a Zesty seasoning mix for our chicken so that we never get sick of eating it on our sandwiches. It’s savory, juicy, and a little spicy!

Here’s how you make it.

Zesty Oven Roasted Chicken Breast

Ingredients:

3 large boneless chicken breasts

2 tablespoons of oil of choice (I use vegetable oil)

2 heaping teaspoons of minced garlic or 1 tablespoon of garlic powder

2 teaspoons of Italian Seasoning

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes (you can use 1/2 tsp if you only want it a little spicy)

salt and pepper (to taste)

Directions:

1. In an 8 by 8 baking dish, or whatever dish you like to bake in, (I used a pie dish because it was clean lol :)) pour 2 tablespoons of oil on the bottom.
2. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
3. Place chicken breasts in baking dish and with your hands, rub oil over both sides of chicken.
4. With clean hands salt and pepper both sides of chicken breasts to taste.
5. Add 2 heaping teaspoons of minced garlic (or 1 tablespoon of garlic powder), 2 teaspoons of Italian Seasoning, and 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes on chicken.
6. Rub the seasonings evenly on both sides of chicken with hands.
7. Clean hands and put chicken in center rack of oven to bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes or until juices run clear and chicken is no longer pink.
8. Let chicken rest for 10 minutes. Slice into chunks and pile high on toasted bread.

Notes:

For our chicken sandwiches, my family likes to serve it on homemade white bread (or storebought toasted Italian Bread when I don’t have it in me to make bread lol) with a tablespoon of my homemade mayo recipe (stay tuned for a future post about how I make my own mayonnaise at home for pennies!). We also put mustard, cheddar cheese, and avocado slices on this sandwich.

This chicken is also great in wraps, in salads, or mixed in mayo for a chicken salad. You can also use this recipe for a healthy yummy dinner! I’ve done this before and served the Chicken Breasts with some mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli!

You can store it in the fridge for 5 days in a Ziplock bag or wrapped in foil! Hope you enjoy this recipe!

Stay tuned for my next post on other Better Options Than Lunchmeat.